Method and apparatus for spraying lamps



Sept. 19, I944\ M. E. MVOGOWAN 2,358,651

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR srnnme LAMPS :s Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April '11,1940 T mm a Sept. 19, 1944.

M. E. M GOWAN METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SPRAYING LAMPS Filed April 11}1940 s Sheets-Sheet 2 slE ATTORNEY I Sept. 19, 1944. I M. E. McqowAN IMETHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SPRAYING LAMPS Filed April 11, 1940 3Sheets-Sheet 5 ATTORNEY Patented Sept. 19, 1944 I METHOD AND APPARATUSFOR SPRAYING LAMPS Michael E. McGowan, Bloomfield, N. 3., assignor toWestinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company, East Pittsburgh, Pa... acorporation of Pennsylvania Application April. 11, 1940, Serial No.329,058

8 Claims. (cl. 117-94) This invention relates to a method and apparatusfor coating vitreous or other articles, and more especially to such forspraying paint onthe bulbs of incandescent electric lamps.

The principal object of my invention, generally considered, is to applya coating of paint, or

the like, to the outer surfaces of vitreous or other articles, such aslamp bulbs, for the purpose of ,making said bulbs translucent or coloredfor decorative or other purposes.

Another object of my invention is the application of paint or othercoating material to lamp bulbs by automatic machinery instead of byhand.

A feature of the invention'is the employment of a vertical sprocket andchain conveyor in continuous motion for transporting lamps while thebulbs thereof are being automatically sprayed.

Another feature of the invention isthe employment of spray gun carriagesreciprocating on radial slide rods and controlled by a grooved eccentriccam, in order to insure the uniform application of paint to the lamps.

A further feature of the invention is ,the pivotal movement of suchspray guns about their carriages, in accordance with the shape of theperipheral surface of the controlling cam, in order to insure that thepaint is properly directed on the lamps as the gun carriagesreciprocate.

- A still further feature of the invention is the use of spray gunswhich follow the continuous motion of a lamp conveyor, move radially andangle, all at the same time, therebyinsuring the I employment of an ovenfor baking the coating on the lamps, while the same are traveling on thepainting conveyor.

A further object of the invention is the provision of means forautomatically ejecting the coated and baked lamps at the end of thebaking period.

I with parts in elevation, of the apparatus shown in Figure 1, in thedirection of the arrows.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary sectional view on the lineIII-f-III of Figure2, in the direction of the arrows. I

. Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view on the line IV.IVof Figure 2, in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary sectional view on the line V-V of Figure 2, inthe direction of the arrows.

Figuresfi and. 7 are enlarged fragmentary sectlonal views on thecorrespondingly numbered. lines of Figure 1, in the direction of thearrows.

Referring to the drawings in detail, like parts being designated by likereference characters,

there is shown a support ll carrying bearings l2 andl3, in which shaftsI4 and I5 are respectively journaled. I

The shaft carries a pair of sprocket wheels l6 andthe shaft l5 carries apair of sprocket wheels ll, around which travels chain conveyor 18,bearing a plurality of sockets l9. Each socket is adapted tofrictionally receive the base 2| of a lamp 22. The sockets l8 carryejecter plungers 23, held in their retracted positions by means ofsprings 24.

Other objects and features of the invention,'

relating to the specific arrangement and combination of the variousparts, will become apparent as the description proceeds. Referring tothe drawings illustrating my invention; y

Figure .1 is a side elevational view of apparatus for coating and bakinglamps in accordance with myinvention. Y

The conveyor is operated continuously during the lamp-coating process,as' by means of a motor 25, the armature shaft of which operates,through reduction gearing 20, a spur gear 26 meshing with a gear 21keyed on driveshaft l5. On the shaft 15 are also keyed the revolvingvalve element 28,

the motor 25, causes the chain conveyor to move around themand thesprocket wheels It, in a direction indicated by the arrow 32 in Figure1.

While the lamps 22, carried in the socket l9, are

thus moved; they are, at the same time, rotated about their axes, byhaving their base portions 33 frictionally engaged by the side of thegear wheel 34. Said gear wheel is driven from the spur gear 31 on shaft'15, through idler35, intermeshing gear 36, shaft 31, on which gear 36is fixed, and gear 38 also fixed on said shaft. The latter gear mesheswith the gear 34, and thereby rotates the lamps 22. For neutralizing thelateral pressure of the gear 34 on the base portions 83 of the socketsIS, an idler wheel 39 isdesir- .ably provided 0n the shaft l5, as shownmost pairs of rods 4| and 42, extending radially from the hub 43, and onwhich reciprocate the slide carriages 44. On each lide carriage ispivoted a spray gun 45, carrying a cam abutment 46, which may bereplaced by a roller, if desired, and resiliently urged into engagementwith cam 41 by means of spring 48, so that upon rotation of the sliderod holder, the spray guns move about. their pivots 49 in accordancewith the shape of spray on the lamps 22. Radial movement of theslidecarriages 44 on the slides 4| and 42 is effected by rollers 50thereon, riding in a cam groove in the cam 41. The shape of the camgroove is such that it cooperates with the shape of the periphery of thecam 41 to properly direct and evenly distribute the paint sray on therotating lamps, as indicated most clearly in Figure 2, whereby the sameare uniformly coated as desired. Excess spray, or that blown beyond thelamps is carried off by the vacuum hood arrangement 52. v

Paint and compressed air for the lamp are supplied to the guns 4! bypipe 53 to the non-rotating valve element 54,

held'to the bracket 55, which supports one of the bearings l3, by rods56 and 51 fixed thereto, and slidably fitting pockets 58 and 59 in saidvalve element 54. The element 54 is resiliently urged into air-tightenga'gement with the revolving valve element 28 by compression coilspring 6|, from the bracket 55.

Paint or coating material-goes from a source of supply (not shown)'through said pipe 53, port 62 in the valve element 54 to registeringports 63 in the revolving valve element 28, and is from theretransmitted through flexible conduits or acting thereagainst the cam 41,whereby they at all times direct paint rubber hose 64 to the paintinlets of the correspending guns 45.

In the same way compressedair is fed to'the valve element 54 from acompressor or source (not shown), through pipe 65, along the port 68 ofsaid valve element 54, to registering ports 61 in the rotating valveelement 28, and from there through flexible conduits or rubber hose 68to the air inlet ports of the corresponding guns 45.

, The ports 62 and -66, as shown most clearly in Figure 5, extend onlyapproximately 180 around the perimeter of the valve element 54 so thatthe guns are only operated for spraying paint for one-half of eachrevolution, that is, while the lamps are going through the 180 from thetop of the conveyor,- around the outer semicircumference of the sprocketwheels l1, to the bottom of said conveyor,as shown most clearly inFigure 1, thereby avoiding waste of paint when The slide rod holder 28carries a plurality 01."

for takinglamps after the same are fed to a conveyor thereof, movingthem around a preferably vertical semicircle adjacent a paint sprayinghood, while rotating them about their axes during which time they arereversed in position while being automatically coated with paint, or thelike, from various-angles by means of spray guns operated by compressedair, in order to apply the desired coating on the outer surfaces thereofin a uniform manner, while the same are totating and revolving, fromwhence they are auto-- -matically passed through an oven where thecoating is baked thereon during another reversal in position, and arefinally automatically ejected.

Although a preferred embodiment of my invention has been disclosed, itwill be understood that modifications may be made within the spirit andscope of the appended'claims.

I claim: 1. Apparatus for coating an article, comprising conveyor meansfor moving the same through an arc, means for simultaneously causingsaid article to rotate about an axis radial to said are at all timesduring said movement, and means for causing a spray device to revolveand simulta-' neously oscillate to follow and direct material on saidarticle from varying angles as it moves around said arc, in order toeflect uniform coating r 2. Apparatus for spraying the outer surfaces ofvitreous articles, comprising conveyor means in which said articles arereceived and moved through a vertical are, means for rotating saidarticles about axes corresponding with the radii of said are at alltimes during said movement, paint-spraying means, means for moving saidspraying means with said conveyor means vduring movement through saidvertical arc, and means for radially moving, in a plane parallel to theplane passing through said arc, and simulta neously oscillating saidspraying means to direct paint on said articles from'varying angles during the coating operation, in order to eiIect a uniform distribution ofsaid paint thereon.

3.'Apparatu s for coating the outer surfaces of vitreous articles,comprising conveyor means in which said articles are received and movedthrough a vertical arc, means for rotating said articles about axescorresponding with the radii of said arc at all times during saidmovement, paint spraying means, means for moving said spraying meanswith said conveyor means durthe lamps are not in position for beingsprayed.

The lamps may be fed to the conveyor at the place marked "Charge" inFigure l, and are from there transported around the sprocket wheels l1where they are sprayed or coated by means of the apparatus heretoforedescribed. They then pass through an oven 69, provided with heatingelements of any desired character, such as coils 11,12 and 13, energizedby suitable electric current, whereby the coating is baked on the lamps.As each lamp 22 emerges from the oven, the inner end'of its'ejectingplunger 23 is engaged by a discharge track cam 14, whereupon the lamp ispushed out of the socket l9, as shown most clearly in Figure 7, to becarried to a-discharge chute 15, as by means of a blast of air 16. Fromthe foregoing disclosure, it will be seen that I have provided a methodand apparatus vitreous articles, comprising conveyor means incomplementary to the spraying arc, through which said articles passwhile being reversed in position.

4. Apparatus for coating the outer surfaces of which said articles arereceived and moved through a vertical are, means for rotating saidarticles about axes corresponding with the radii of said arc at alltimes during said movement, paint spraying means, means for. moving saidspraying means with said conveyor means during movement through saidvertical arc, means for radially moving in a plane parallel to the planepassing through said are, and simultaneously osa,ssa,es1

cillating said spraying means to direct paint on said articles fromvarying angles duringthe coating operation, in order to eil'ect auniform distribution of the paint on said articles, baking meansenclosing another portion of said con- .veyor means, including avertical arc complementary to the spraying arc, through which saidarticles pass while being reversed in position, and means forautomatically ejecting said articles, one by one, as they emerge fromsaid baking means; a 1

5. Apparatus for coating an article, comprising conveyormeans forsimultaneously moving I it from one level to another and turning itover,

direct a spray thereon from'varying angles and eflect uniform coverage.

7. Apparatus for coating incandescent electric lamps, comprisingmeansfor holding the bases of said lamps and moving the same from onelevel to another, while. completely reversing them inposition, means forsimultaneously rotating said lamps about longitudinal axes through theirbases, spraying means, 'andmeans for directing paint from said means onsaidlamps tr om diflerent angles while so moving, in order I Iectuniform distribution.

8. The method of coating vitreous articles,

I comprising revolving said articles through an arc,

so that they are completely reversed in position, rotating them at alltimes duringsaid revolution about axes corresponding with radii of saidarc, spraying coating material on them while so moving, revolving thesame through another are to return them to original position, rotatingthem at all times during said revolution about axes corresponding withradii of said second arc, and

, baking said coating material thereon during said return movementthrough said second arc.

7 MICHAEL E. McGOWAN.

to ef-

